The Use of Force and Article 2 of the Echr in Light of European Conflicts

Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) in its current form is incomplete and outdated. Due to significant development at a legislative and judicial level, the right to life spans beyond what is enumerated within Article 2. With the belief that Article 2 is still relevant, this book investigates how the right to life can be better protected within Europe. It advocates for the modernisation of Article 2 through codifying legislative and judicial developments relevant to this provision in the form of guidelines. It also considers the improvements that can be made by the CoE bodies-the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), the Committee of Ministers (CoM), the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), and the CoE Commissioner for Human Rights-to encourage adherence to Article 2 and promote effective remedies to prevent future violations. It uses the experience from four internal European conflicts-the Basque conflict, Chechen conflict, the Northern Ireland Troubles and the Turkish-Kurdish conflict-to illustrate its points. Revised Dissertation. (Series: Modern Studies in European Law) [Subject: European Law, Human Rights Law]

Hannah Russell is a human rights specialist currently working in policy and research at the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission.